northern lights

Friday, 30 August 2013

A meeting of senior officers is in progress. The meeting is chaired by the Head of the Department.In the midst of the meeting the H.O.D. tells a senior officer,"I have severe headache. Can I have a cup of tea? I will proceed after ten minutes." A lady officer gets up from her seat and walks out. Within five minutes she returns with a bottle of oil in her hand and tells the H.O.D."Sir, you work so hard.I have got some almond oil.I will apply it on your head. You will feel better. " Without waiting for any response, she opens the bottle and starts massaging his head in front of the whole assembly.All those who were present there were stunned. They were all smiling behind their bags/files and enjoying the drama of showmanship between the boss and the subordinate.What was this? Undiluted flattery.

Well flattery is an art which everyone cannot master. At the same time we find this 'tribe' every where. It is a universally accepted fact that people like to be praised.Generally people are self centred and like people who pamper them. Thus the population of this tribe is increasing. Specially in an office you will find them in plenty. I have seen a person, who I can name ,'maha dullard' but a very 'good worker' in the opinion of the senior because he does multifarious jobs ,like depositing the electricity,water and telephone bills of the boss. He will buy fruits and vegetables on the orders of Mrs. Boss. Sample another 'genius' of this tribe. Every Monday he will deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to the boss, with a statement,"These are fresh from our fields in my village." Every one in the office knows that he purchases them from the 'mandi'!!Can you beat this? Another 'variety' is there who will always please you by frequently giving you 'gifts' on any pretext. "Ma'am, You were wearing a beautiful dress yesterday.I have got a matching purse for you". You cannot shrug away such flatterers.Some interesting characters will do odd jobs in the residence of the boss.They will take his children to the school and bring them back, pay their school fees. If the bathroom tap is leaking, the kitchen pipe is blocked or the A/C is not working ,Mrs. Boss summons them to get the job done. Such characters will boast in an assembly that they have a direct approach to the boss and can get any work done by the boss.These sycophants will make you feel important. After all who does not like to be praised! It is very difficult to shun these characters I quote the words of Machiavelli, "Men are so complacent in their own affairs and so willing to deceive themselves,that they are rescued with great difficulty from this pest," Some people like to be flattered. You must understand that a person who flatters you is trying to deceive you or has already deceived you.Have you come across this breed? What was your experience?

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

This is a true incident which I experienced, while I was driving to my office. I was placed in a very awkward situation,when I got help from a police constable whose whereabouts were not known.The letter of thanks of the unknown constable was never sent. Dear Unknown Police Constable, I am writing this letter to thank you for helping me out of the difficult situation in which I was unwittingly caught. Even though you did not know whether I was at fault or not, you supported me.Perhaps you were moved seeing a lady surrounded by so many people, all shouting at the pitch of their voice and myself , on the verge of tears, sitting in the car at the steering wheel helplessly. You shooed away all those people who were blaming me for no fault of mine.You got the way cleared for me and asked me to drive away. I looked at you thankfully wanting to tell you the whole incident but you gestured that I should leave. I tried to look for you at the same crossing for many days but never saw you. I want you to know the details of the whole incident.I am a very cautious driver. You know that during morning and evening the roads are full of mad traffic. Everyone is in a hurry and overtake from the wrong side. I was near the Tughlak Road crossing. The traffic signal was green.As soon as I neared, it turned red.I applied the brake and stopped. Behind my car a young man,was driving a motorbike recklessly.He just banged into my car from behind. He got down and started shouting at me. I explained that I could not cross the red light. This man was in no mood to listen and continued to blame me. So many people collected there.Seeing a lady alone and helpless they were watching the Tamasha.You came as a good Samaritan and dispersed the crowd.How much I thanked God that He sent you to rescue me. God bless you.You are such a nice and kind human being. Yours faithfullyA lady in distress whom you helped

Saturday, 24 August 2013

Every Sunday Priya gets up by eight'o clock in the morning. On week days she is up by five'o clock . She has to prepare lunch packets for Vinay, her husband, Mona,her daughter and Vikram ,her son. She finishes all the kitchen work,takes a quick bath and pushes off to school. Today is Sunday. When she opened her eyes she saw the cuckoo clock on the wall. Oh God! It was eleven'o clock. She was shocked. How could she sleep till mid day! The children must be hungry.They must not have taken their breakfast. She was very upset.Frantically she rushed to the wash room and hurriedly dashed back. She approached the kitchen and found that it was closed. She wondered whether no one else had got up.She peeped into the children's bed room but no one was there. She thought that Vinay must have gone to the gym, but where were the children.She sat down dejected, on the sofa. "Why do I have such splitting headache?"Suddenly she remembered that last night she was coughing and Vinay had given her cough syrup. Now she realised why she slept for such a long time.Her eyes were still droopy and she was feeling languished. She was half asleep when she heard some weird sound emanating from the guest room. She was nervous. Who can it be? She cautiously moved towards the room. "Who is there"', with these words she pushed open the door. Oh! what she saw inside made her wonder! Vikram was sitting on a rocking chair with earphones plugged in his ears and father and daughter, with their back to the door, were doing something on the study table.They made a right about turn on hearing the sound of the opening the door. Vinay looked astonished and said,"Oh dear how are you?" Priya asked what were they doing,whether they had had their breakfast. Vinay held her hand lovingly,"Yes dear we are done with breakfast. I was helping Mona in a project which she has to submit tomorrow." He lead her outside and made her sit on the sofa and said,"You are not well. You take rest. We have ordered lunch from outside. Dont worry about lunch." Priya again drifted into sleep on sofa. It was two'o clock when she woke up by the sound of loud music and laughter. She was surrounded by her school staff and her family. All of them,in one voice said loudly,"Congratulations"'. Priya was confused. It was neither her birthday nor her anniversary. What was all this! Vikram and Mona came with a cake on which the word Congrats was written. There was confusion writ large on her face. Vinay, now stepped forward and said, " Last evening there was a call from your Department that you have been promoted as a Principal.It was Vikram's idea to give you cough syrup, which will make you sleep so long.The children wanted to give this news to you as a surprise. He called your friends to congratulate you. How did you like his prank? The whole room reverberated with loud clapping and laughter.

Thursday, 22 August 2013

What's in a name!What is the importance of a name? What difference does it make whether someone calls me Usha, Asha or Nirmala! Well it does! It will lead to utter chaos, confusion, complication and pandemonium. Name is not simply a conglomeration of words. It is some thing which gives an individual his/her identity. When the child is born ,not only the parents, but friends and relatives suggest various names. The name given to the baby is for all times, till he/she lives on this earth. I read a quotation long ago{don't remember the name of the author} which says when the tiger dies it leaves behind his skin, but when a man dies he leaves behind his name and along with it his legacy.Name gives an identity to a person. Just imagine if people had no names ,what a chaotic place the world would have been! There will be no difference between human beings and animals. After a baby is born, it is imperative that he/she must be named. Among Hindus the name is selected according to the ruling Nakshtra of the baby. It is believed that the name of the baby will shape his destiny.It is quite common to name the child from the characters from mythology.Therefore names like Rama, Krishna, Vishnu are quite common.Girls are named after Durga, Gauri, Lakshmi Savitri etc. It is sometimes interesting to know a person's name vis-a vis his personality,status in life and character. You might have heard some poor man by the name of 'Dhani Ram' or a rich man named 'Garib Das'. A quiet and shy girl may be 'Chanchal' and an outgoing, extrovert type known as 'Shanta'. It is interesting that people are naming the girls as Shakti Durga,a civil services officer,who dared to expose the mafia gang indulging in malpractices, after hearing about her grit and indomitable spirit. In western countries too it is common to name the babies after the biblical characters Mary, Smith,Daniel, Angel, Oliver etc. In the Times of India dated 13th August 2013, I read an interesting report, which I would like to share. It says that in U.K. in the year 2012, 7139 baby boys were named Muhammad which ranked 2nd after Harry which was ranked first having a lead of only 29. It stated that the popularity of names from eastern countries is due to a large number of people migrating from eastern countries.Speaking about popularity we find certain names become popular at a particular point of time. There was a time when Vijay, Ajay, Pradeep etc were common. These were followed by Prashant, Sushant ,Anil etc. The popular names for girls were Nisha, Aditi, Shreya etc. These days young couples think of new names unheard before. Have you heard of Aarav, Arshiya, Ojait, Dacia as names for modern babies? Many people change the name of the daughter in law after she goes to her marital home. This practice is demeaning. It was a widely accepted norm. It is now declining,since many girls resented the change in their name.

Monday, 19 August 2013

Malini went to a jeweller's shop to purchase a diamond ring. Thesalesman showed her many rings. He praised the authenticity of each diamond Malini could not decide.As she was leaving the store, the owner offered her a seat and cold drink. He took the ring,which she had liked most, and said that he too loved the ring. Malini was impressed and bought the ring. She asked him how could he sell the ring which the salesman could not. He said,"The salesman stressed on the purity of the diamond but I fascinated you by its beauty".

This post is written in response to Write Tribe prompt # 3 100 words on Saturday

Sunday, 11 August 2013

Sunil was fair and his lady love,Maya was dark. They were madly in love. Sunil took Maya to his house to meet his parents. Sunil belonged to a poor family where as Maya's father was very rich. Sunil was the only son of his parents and Maya was the only daughter. Both of them were eager to marry as early as possible. Sunil took Maya to his house to meet his parents. Maya was very apprehensive.She kept wondering whether Sunil's parents would accept her as a daughter-in -law or reject her because she was an ugly girl and he was so good looking.Sunil's father was very receptive but his mother seemed to be unreceptive. She did not speak a word and was silent all the time. Maya was disappointed. Sunil consoled her saying that he was convinced that his mother would welcome Maya, but some how she was unconvinced. Maya's father suggested that they should live with him and Sunil could look after his business. After great thought Sunil agreed to his proposal. They got married .They were sent to Canada to take care of his father-in-law's business. They lived happily ever after.Written in resnspoe to

I am sure you will be taken by surprise to receive this letter from a long lost friend ! Never in your dream you would have expected a letter from me. I know I am at fault for this long silence. Even though we were not in touch for the last several years, you were always in my mind. I can never forget the days we spent together. We were the best of friends. I vividly remember the day when we met. Both of us were new to Dehra Doon and had taken admission in B.Ed. Most of the students were from the same college . There was a deafening chitter chatter in the class. Only you and I were not part of that hulla gulla. We were in one corner watching boys and girls exchanging jokes, tit bits and what not. I asked you your name and we started a formal talk introducing each other. Do you remember that how amused we were when we knew that we were neighbours. How we used to stay in each others house so often !We were inseparable. I really miss those good old days!

You must be wondering how I am writing to you after so many years. You remember Vimla, my sister? Her daughter is married and is living in Dehra Dun. I told her about you. She was very excited and said,"Is her full name Sheela Jaswal?" I nodded and asked her how she knows you. She told me that you are working as the Principal of Welhams Doon School. Oh God! I too was excited after hearing this. Congrats, congrats and more congrats. Why you did not tell me? I was under the impression that you were teaching in Mussoorie. You must write to me in detail about your self and your sisters.

I retired recently as Deputy Director of Education. May be I will come and meet you during your holidays. Both of my children are married. I am leading a relaxed life. Hope I will hear from you soon. Let us renew our bond of friendship, which

was broken by fate. Will eagerly wait for you letter!

Love,

Usha.

This letter is not a fiction or an imagination. It was actually written but never posted. I told my niece to find out the residential address of Sheela. Before I received the address I saw an obituary in the Times of India that Sheela Jaswal died of massive heart attack. The unsent letter is lying in the drawer of my desk.May God rest her soul in peace.

Monday, 5 August 2013

A child's mind is very susceptible and responsive. If parents are kind hearted , generous and altruistic towards human beings in general, the children also tend to be benevolent and considerate. In our family we have always been very sympathetic not only towards our servants but also toward poor and needy. I have always paid school fees and all other expenses for the education of one or two children. We also donate to a blind school for the last thirty years. Our children grew up seeing our approach towards others. Both, my son and daughter have always been very kind hearted . I am reminded of an incident when my daughter was in class five. Near the bus stand, where her school bus used to pick her up. one beggar used to sit . Every day she gave her lunch packet, which I used to pack for her school, to that beggar. She never told me that she was not eating her lunch. One day I came to know from my son that she was giving away her lunch to a poor beggar. I really felt proud at her compassion and generosity towards the old beggar. Since that day I started giving her an extra lunch packet. One day, during the month of December, it started raining furiously. My daughter is very scared of thunder and lightening. When it was time for her to return home from school,there was deafening thunder bursts and rainfall. The atmosphere became dark, as if it was night. It was biting cold, I got worried for her. She was in class eight at that time. Oh my God, when she reached home, I was shocked to see her. She was not wearing her school blazer nor did she have the protective rain coat. She was fully drenched and was shivering due to extreme cold. I immediately dried her hair, made her change the wet clothes, and made her sit near the heater. All this time she was trying to tell me something, but I was anxious to get her some warmth. Now, when she started again to narrate her experience, I did not stop her. I was very much moved when she told me that the baba, whom she fed every day had nothing to cover. He was sitting under a tree and shivering. She removed her blazer and the rain coat and covered him. I could not control my tears. Now this little girl has grown up and is a successful Doctor. She has inculcated the same spirit of compassion and generosity in her children. Even as a successful Doctor she is very magnanimous and philanthropic towards the poor and needy patients, who come to her for treatment.This post is written in response to Blogadda.com do right stories contest, an initiative of Tata capital.